president obama has taken a lead in recent polls. still, he is not headed into this election with the same ad hntage he had in 2008 when he won the state by ten points. two years ago, the republican party chipped away at the democrats lead, and now claim almost 11,000 more registered active voters. mitt romney came in a close second here in the january caucuses, that's four years after he ignored, and lost, the state-- also proof of how campaigning here can make a difference. republicans want to capitalize on that momentum. >> in 2008, the obama campaign had the organizational advantage in iowa. in 2012, republicans have stepped up their game. they had done more by april than john mccain did in iowa by election night in 2008. >> reporter: but political support in iowa doesn't simply rely on the sheer force of campaigning. there are more voters registered without party affiliation in iowa than there are republicans or democrats. many iowans measure the candidates independent of their party. voters like 19-year-old charlie comfort who